Animals for urban children
When children from the East End were evacuated to the country during the Second World War, shocking ignorance came to light. Some of them were amazed at the size of cows, which they had imagined to be no bigger than dogs. Today they are better informed, as London is blessed with a number of educational farmyards, of which Mudchute City Farm on the Isle of Dogs is the largest at 13 hectares.
The curious name »Mudchute« goes back to the 19th century, when docks were built in the north of the Isle of Dogs. The soil and Thames mud excavated during this work were deposited on the southern part of the peninsula, creating an unplanned but extremely fertile biotope. The port area has now become part of the shiny new Docklands with its towers for financial institutions and expensive apartments at Canary Wharf and Canada Water. The district to the south of it, formerly housing for dockers and their families, was redeveloped, and the mud heaps were converted to a park and farmyard in the 1970s.
As you walk southwards from the Crossharbour stop on the Docklands Light Railway, the scene changes completely within a few minutes. The postmodern high-rise architecture recedes into the background, meadows appear, hedgerows line the path, and you have soon reached Mudchute City Farm, where admission is free. It has pens for donkeys, sheep and llamas and a pond for geese and ducks. Turkeys wander about with impressive dangling wattles, golden pheasants strut in their cages, and horses graze in a paddock. For smaller children, there are rabbits, guinea pigs and a playground, for the older ones a riding school, and a café caters to the parents. Greedy goats are hand-fed on carrots, and various events familiarise the young generation with life on a farm – valuable entertainment and education, as the Isle of Dogs is a district where poor families live.
Info
Address Pier Street, E14 3HP | Public Transport Crossharbour (DLR); from the station walk across the supermarket car park | Hours Park always open, farm Mon–Sun 9am–5pm| Tip From the next DLR station, Island Gardens, it is a short walk to the river bank for a fantastic view of historic Greenwich.
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